Pesticide sales represent an important segment of the agrochemical industry in the United States and in other world markets, mainly for fungicide, herbicide and insecticide applications.
The control of phytopathogenic fungi is of great economic importance since fungal growth on plants or on parts of plants inhibits production of foliage, fruit or seed, and the overall quality of a cultivated crop.
Because of the vast economic ramifications of fungal propagation in agricultural and horticultural cultivations, a broad spectrum of fungicidal and fungistatic products have been developed for general and specific applications.
With respect to insecticide developments, a wide variety of ornamental and agricultural plants are susceptible to infestation by insects and arachnids. The pests inflict damage by consuming foliage and roots, withdrawing juices from the plants, secreting toxins, and infecting with diseases.
A broad scope of insecticide compounds have been developed to combat insects which are harmful to agricultural and horticultural plants. Illustrative of insecticide compositions are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,217,037; 3,506,698; 3,576,834; 3,636,111; 3,755,364; 3,875,232; 4,028,413; 4,128,581; 4,415,743; 4,640,927; 4,804,653; 4,839,349; 5,010,068; 5,087,456; 5,087,456; 5,096,928; and references cited therein.
The application of pesticides has contributed significant increases in ornamental and agricultural plant productivity. However, it has become increasingly apparent that the widespread use of synthetic organic pesticides has caused detrimental environmental effects which are harmful to mammals and other animals. Regulatory guidelines have encouraged a search for potentially less dangerous pesticidal chemicals.
Of particular interest with respect to the present invention are agrochemical compositions which include an environmentally safe pesticidal ingredient such as a fatty acid salt. SAFER Insecticidal Soap is an available commercial product which includes an alkali metal fatty acid salt as an active pesticidal ingredient. This type of pesticidal soap product in the form of an aqueous formulation is described in publications such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,124.
There remains a continuing need for the development of new and more effective agrochemical compositions which possess preventive, curative and systemic biological activity for the protection of cultivated plants, with a minimum of ecologically harmful side effects.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an agrochemical composition which is a novel combination of inorganic and organic compounds exhibiting pesticidal properties.
It is another object of this invention to provide a particulate dry blend composition or aqueous formulation which is a combination of ingredients which include a bicarbonate-containing inorganic ingredient which exhibits fungicidal activity, and which enhances the biocidal activity of an environmentally safe insecticide ingredient.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and examples.